At its Cannes debut yesterday BlacKkKlansman was met with a rapturous response and a 10-minute standing ovation, with many saying Spike Lee’s movie captures the zeitgeist, using a true story from the past to talk about modern race issues and the bigotry of the Trump era.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘From visionary filmmaker Spike Lee comes the incredible true story of an American hero. It’s the early 1970s, a time of great social upheaval as the struggle for civil rights rages on. Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) becomes the first African-American detective on the Colorado Springs Police Department, but his arrival is greeted with skepticism and open hostility by the department’s rank and file. Undaunted, Stallworth resolves to make a name for himself and a difference in his community. He bravely sets out on a dangerous mission: infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan.

Posing as a racist extremist, Stallworth contacts the group and soon finds himself invited into its inner ‘circle. He even cultivates a relationship with the Klan’s Grand Wizard, David Duke (Topher Grace), who praises Ron’s commitment to the advancement of White America. With the undercover investigation growing ever more complex, Stallworth’s colleague, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), poses as Ron in face-to-face meetings with members of hate group, gaining insider’s knowledge of a deadly plot. Together, Stallworth and Zimmerman team up to take down the organization whose real aim is to sanitize its violent rhetoric to appeal to the mainstream.

‘Produced by the team behind the Academy-Award® winning Get Out, BlacKkKlansman offers an unflinching, true-life examination of race relations in 1970s America that is just as bracingly relevant in today’s tumultuous world.’

The film hits cinemas in August. Take a look at the trailer below. [Read more…]

The supernatural horror It Follows got writer/director David Robert Mitchell plenty of attention, and also ensured his next movie was going to be bigger budget with a better known cast. That follow-up is Under The Silver Lake, which stars Andrew Garfield, Riley Keough and Topher Grace.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘From the dazzling imagination that brought you It Follows comes a delirious neonoir fever dream about one man’s search for the truth behind the mysterious crimes, murders and disappearances in his East L.A. neighborhood. Sam (Andrew Garfield) is a disenchanted 33-year-old who discovers a mysterious woman, Sarah (Riley Keough), frolicking in his apartment’s swimming pool. When she vanishes, Sam embarks on a surreal quest across Los Angeles to decode the secret behind her disappearance, leading him into the murkiest depths of mystery, scandal and conspiracy in the City of Angels.’

The film will be out in the US in June, but no UK date is currently set. Take a look at the trailer below. [Read more…]

Netflix has shown they can take on television at their own game (something most thought was impossible a few years ago), and now they want to show Hollywood they can make really big movies too. This year they’ve got the likes of Bright, starring Will Smith, as well as War Machine, with Brad Pitt. The trailer for the latter has now arrived.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘An absurdist war story for our times, writer-director David Michôd (Animal Kingdom) recreates a U.S. General’s roller-coaster rise and fall as part reality, part savage parody – raising the specter of just where the line between them lies today. His is an exploration of a born leader’s ultra-confident march right into the dark heart of folly. At the story’s core is Brad Pitt’s sly take on a successful, charismatic four-star general who leapt in like a rock star to command NATO forces in Afghanistan, only to be taken down by a journalist’s no-holds-barred exposé.

‘The Netflix original film is inspired by the book The Operators: The Wild & Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan by the late journalist Michael Hastings. Joining Pitt in War Machine is a highly decorated cast including Tilda Swinton, Ben Kingsley, Anthony Michael Hall, Topher Grace, Will Poulter, Lakeith Stanfield, Emory Cohen, John Magaro, RJ Cyler, Alan Ruck, Scoot McNairy and Meg Tilly. Ian Bryce and Plan B’s Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Brad Pitt serve as producers. James Skotchdopole serves as executive producer. The film will be released on Netflix on May 26, 2017.’ [Read more…]

Today Netflix was in Berlin, trying to woo the European market and showing off some of its upcoming wares. After releasing a trailer for Bright, starring Will Smith a couple of days ago, they decided today was a good time for the first teaser for another film they’ve got up their sleeve featuring a-list talent – War Machine, starring Brad Pitt.

Here’s the synopsis: ‘An absurdist war story for our times, writer-director David Michôd (Animal Kingdom) recreates a U.S. General’s roller-coaster rise and fall as part reality, part savage parody – raising the specter of just where the line between them lies today. His is an exploration of a born leader’s ultra-confident march right into the dark heart of folly. At the story’s core is Brad Pitt’s sly take on a successful, charismatic four-star general who leapt in like a rock star to command NATO forces in Afghanistan, only to be taken down by a journalist’s no-holds-barred exposé.

‘The Netflix original film is inspired by the book The Operators: The Wild & Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan by the late journalist Michael Hastings. Joining Pitt in War Machine is a highly decorated cast including Tilda Swinton, Sir Ben Kingsley, Anthony Michael Hall, Topher Grace, Will Poulter, Lakeith Stanfield, Emory Cohen, John Magaro, RJ Cyler, Alan Ruck, Scoot McNairy and Meg Tilly. Ian Bryce and Plan B’s Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Brad Pitt serve as producers. James Skotchdopole serves as executive producer. The film will be released on Netflix on May 26, 2017.’ [Read more…]